Thanks James for the quick response. As someone who generally likes the forwards, a discussion of how this AP isn't really about destroying artifacts, but might involve destroying artifacts, in addition to a discussion of the politics and current ownership of the Alara'hai could have been a good subject for a forward.

While I thought the two different blurbs for distracted vs. aware was good and useful, and I appreciate that getting to level 20 means space already pretty tight, I would have liked some mention of Baraket besides the inside backstory. In particular:

Does X. destroy it if the PCs bring it?

If so, just when would he do that?

How do the cultists and other denizens react to it?

How does that answer change if the cultists have successfully stolen it?

How does its innate intelligence react to the events of the adventure?

Does Hobbin recognize it, or have any ties to Chadali that might come up?

Thanks for starting this thread for me. I've had a few ideas rattling around:

Alert to Intrigues

Your time at court has taught you much, and you well know that sometimes words have two meanings:

You gain a +5 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks made to discern secret messages; also, you never infer false information when using Sense Motive to discern secret messages.

Missionary Arodenite Convert

You were raised in the faith tradition of the dead god Aroden, before you adopted your new faith:

Whatever the reason for your conversion, you seek to be a living exemplar of the religion you've chosen, and as a result, you have one additional use per day of blessings or channeling energy.

Clotheshound

The haute couture of Oppara is something you find endlessly fascinating:

Your fondness for fashion grants you a +1 trait bonus to Appraise and Disguise checks, and one of these (your choice) is always a class skill for you. In addition, you begin play with a courtier's outfit suitable for your size and jewelry worth 50 gp.

Coming Out

Today is your debut as the latest in the long line of your ancient family:

Naturally, you have to look your best. You begin play with 200 gp in heirloom jewelry, a noble's outfit suitable for your size, and your choice of a masterwork rapier or a masterwork suit of light armor.

Dietary Expert

You work as a poison taster, whether because you have a taste for fine food due to a hungry childhood, or because you enjoy the spice of danger:

You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws vs. ingested poisons. In addition, your time spent at the tables of the well-to-do has given you a +1 trait bonus to Knowledge [nobility] and Profession [cook], and one of these skills is always a class skill for you.

Eutropia Loyalist

You are secretly convinced that the young Princess Eutropia is the only noble with what it will take to make Taldor great again:

You gain a +2 trait bonus to saving throws vs. charms, compulsions, and any attempt to read your mind.

Foreign Emissary

You hail from the exotic lands far to the East of Taldor, and have trained in a discipline which is rare in Taldor. As a result, you are a welcome curiosity at court:

In addition to the languages you know because of your race and Intelligence, you begin play knowing your choice of Kelish, Tien, or Vudrani. In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on Perception and Sense Motive, as well as +1 point in your ki pool or phrenic pool.

Rhapsodic Bohemian

You either studied at one of Oppara's bardic colleges, or practiced in many jam sessions with those who did:

As a result of your familiarity with the performing arts, you gain +3 bardic performance rounds per day.

Savage Mercenary

Your Ulfen heritage means your seeming disinterest in Taldan politics allows you to command a higher wage as a sellsword:

You gain +3 rage rounds per day.

Shameless Hanger-on

Your ambition to better your place in Taldor's social hierarchy means you must be bold in seeking out patrons and mentors:

As a result, you gain a +2 trait bonus to saves vs. fear.

Tradition of Service

You come from a family with a long and proud tradition of loyal service to the Taldan state:

As a result, you gain a +1 trait bonus to Knowledge (history) and Profession (soldier), and one of these is always a class skill for you. In addition, your familiarity with giving and taking orders means that should you ever take the Leadership feat, you gain a +1 trait bonus to your Leadership score.

Wary Bureaucrat

You are a scrivener, translator, or other minor functionary in the Taldan court. Having seen what the right document can do to and for someone, your attention to the details of paperwork borders on paranoia:

You gain a +1 trait bonus on Craft (calligraphy), Linguistics, and Profession (scribe), and one of these (your choice) is always a class skill for you. In addition, for the purpose of detecting forgeries of official Taldan government documents, you are always treated as reviewing a type of document well known to the reader; and for the purpose of creating such a forgery, you are always treated as having seen a similar document. In addition, you begin play with a masterwork calligrapher's kit (55 gp value).

It's only a Player Companion (although it's one of the best together with People of the River imo) and more aimed at PCs than GMs.

And 32 pages are not enough to cover everything relevant in Golarions most fleshed-out land. ;-)

I was bummed that the Varisia pdf doesn't have the center map as all one page in its own pdf, like People of the River. The only real flaw in that product, IMO. The ribbon art of the big three cities was a nice touch.

Disappointed not to hear about an NPC Codex 2, again. With all the new classes, it would be really useful. And with the Runelords AP going to 20th, I might have expected a product like that to ease some of the space constraints of high-level stat blocks.

If the reason this product keeps not happening is because Paizo has decided this product is too easy for 3rd party publishers to do well, has anyone a link to such an admission? It'd be nice to have, along with the evergreen explanations for why hardcover AP compilations are rare.

I want to be subscribed for Starfinder rule books and APs, and I have the Starfinder core rule book and Dead Suns #1 in pending. But it looks like the CRB is not part of a subscription while the AP is. I had both subscriptions in my shopping cart for much of July, I think, before I pulled the trigger Friday. If it matters, I'm not picking up at Gencon.

So the comic series has two of the runelords waking up, and Book of the Damned volumes have appeared. It would be interesting to chase down / fail to prevent the reunification of TBOD and end in Varisia, rather than start or stay there for a whole AP.

From James Jacobs in the Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover thread, the answer appears to be sadly no. Which was a little disappointing, considering that the Mummy's Mask map folio / People of the Sand both have the Osirion map.

I remember the original player's guide had a map of Varisia, but I like the parchment style better for player handouts. Do you think the Varisia player's companion pdf could be updated to have its central map included as its own pdf, like in People of the Sands or Bastards of Golarion?

Not really... we don't update PDFs/products in this way.

Thanks for the reply. And thanks to Captain Yesterday for pointing out I have a version in the SS poster map bundle.

I remember the original player's guide had a map of Varisia, but I like the parchment style better for player handouts. Do you think the Varisia player's companion pdf could be updated to have its central map included as its own pdf, like in People of the Sands or Bastards of Golarion?

Six months after the previous request, I thought I'd bump the post. Not much time left before The Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover! I think the parchment style map looks better than the one in the inside cover of the original player's guide.

Just kinda realized that besides that I'd like a player's guide for handout purposes, it would really be nice to have new campaign traits because old campaign traits are essentially five different possible backgrounds .-. I know APs are designed for 4, but I prefer to have 6 players in case one or two player can't make it to session, so would be nice to have 6 different possible backgrounds from traits.

You might be interested to know that the Varisia sourcebook (Player Companion line) has two new campaign traits for CotCT, one of which is related to Lamm like the five original ones in the CotCT player's guide. With that one you would indeed have six "background" campaign traits.

Incidentally, the Varisia sourcebook also has two new campaign traits for each of the RotR, SD, and JR APs, plus a brief run-down of the seven campaign traits which were introduced in full in the Shattered Star player's guide.

Speaking of the Varisia sourcebook, is there any chance that the two-page map spread can be combined into a single page, like the center sections of Bastards of Golarion and People of the Sand? The way the Varisia pdf is currently laid out, I couldn't make my Acrobat reader show both pages of the map at once.

While not something I need for my own character, something addressing worshippers of evil deities other than Asmodeus would be handy. How secretive do they need to be, and so on.

I second this. Also, since the old Cheliax Player's Companion had a line about how Thrune bans the worship of chaotic deities and any devil other than Asmodeus, it would be nice to include advice for PCs who wish to play both sides. For instance, a CE necromancer intending to make deals with demons for damnation feats.

I also enjoy the strategy guide. Makes building a complete character very fast. But I found a small rule error. Page 67 offers suggestions for starting gear for a shield fighter. It states you can swap out the long sword for a bastard sword. It costs more and is heavier but it makes up for it in doing damage. The error in this is fighters are not proficient with exotic weapons. I take it this was missed in the editing process. Am I right in this?

Yes, for a shield fighter. Using the bastard sword two-handed makes it count as a martial weapon, but then the shield fighter doesn't have a hand for a shield.

I noticed another minor error in the fighter section: the 3rd-level Brute suggested feat, Great Cleave, requires a +4 Base Attack Bonus.

Is there some way to make both of the center map pages display in the pdf? I tried the two-page view in Acrobat and it breaks them so that half of the map is on consecutive pairs. Barring that, could a refresh to the file add just the map as one unified file, like was done for People of the {Sands, River, Stars} and Bastards of Golarion?

Apologies in advance if this was covered on pages 2-4 of this thread. From checking the post dates that seemed unlikely and I thought it would be easier to just ask.

The spell index is great. I can tell it will be really useful. I did notice a bug in it, though. I had all the schools unchecked, only cleric/oracle, only 3rd-level, and all the books checked. I saw lesser spellcrash, instead of no results. Then, I tried to check all on the schools, and that link did not check any schools. I assume because the list was too big, since picking one school seemed to work (Abjuration included lesser spellcrash, as expected).

In version 2.0, please add a filter by component option, since sometimes it's a nice challenge to build a wizard who does not need Eschew Materials but is still useful with no component pouch. And for various other reasons I'm sure people can think up.